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S. Carolina's Unstable Governor

The Governor must resign and devote full time trying to, as he claimed he wanted to, repair relations with his wife and four sons. That he did not resign yesterday was further confirmation of his selfishness in line with Republican hypocrisy.

[Black Star News Editorial]

Another holier-than-thou fraud has been uncovered in the Republican party, only weeks after Nevada's Senator John Ensign was exposed as a marriage wrecker, carrying on an affair with a staffer who was married to one of his former staffers.

Now we have South Carolina's Governor Mark Sanford.

Weeks ago, we said he was crazy when he declined $700 million in federal stimulus money for the State.

He would not accept the money if it was to create jobs or finance unemployment benefits. He would only accept the money if he could use it to narrow the State's deficit.

It was all politics of course. The stimulus, inevitably, has increased the federal deficit. So Governor Sanford was just paving the way for his prospective election run in 2012 as the Republican Presidential candidate. It was all about him.

So what does he do after his attempt to deny stimulus money to his State was thwarted by his fellow Republican lawmakers? The Governor flew off to Argentina to get his own personal "stimulus" and to "recharge."

This Christian values governor travelled to the Pampas to cheat on his wife, who apparently had already kicked him out of the Governor's mansion.

He is the same man, who as a Congressman, voted to impeach President Bill Clinton because "family moral values" was paramount.

He is a hypocrite beyond reason.

But what's worse is not so much his philandering ways. It's the reckless and irresponsible manner in which he treated the office of governor entrusted to him by the people of the State of South Carolina.

Responding to the libido's urge, he actually abandoned the statecraft in mid-flight without even telling his co-pilot, the Lt. Governor.

In the world in which we live in today, any number of possibilities, including even a terrorist attack --whether by foreigners or domestic neo Nazi groups-- can occur. If such a tragedy had occurred in South Carolina, how much precious time could have been wasted before it was discovered that South Carolina's Commander-in-chief was trapped between bedsheets in Buenos Aires?

Of course federal agents would become involved but can you imagine Washington taking charge with a govenor missing in action to coordinate the efforts?

And this man really wanted to be president of all the United States?

Even his apology was another exhibition in selfishness. It took him almost nine minutes to get it out that he had been cheating on his wife.

And he might never have admitted it had he not been confronted by a reporter for The State, a South Carolina newspaper, when he landed at Atlanta's airport, upon his return from Argentina.

In fact, he lied to that reporter, saying he had meant to go hiking but that he changed his mind and went to get "recharged" in Argentina.

At least his choice of words was accurate.

The apology also gave the impression that Sanford is not a stable man--jumping from one disconnected topic to the other. While South Carolina may not be the most important State in the Union, it's an important State for the voters that elected him. They deserve better.

The Governor has resigned as Chair of the Republican Governors' Association. He must resign as governor as well and devote full time trying to, as he claimed he wanted to, repair relations with his wife and four sons. That he did not resign yesterday was further confirmation of his selfishness, well in line with Republican hypocrisy.